Adjustable body rest

ABSTRACT

An adjustable head and upper body rest is disclosed which is intended primarily for supporting the body while lying face down. A head or face rest having an open portion for the nose and mouth is provided, together with chest and shoulder supports, permitting proper weight distribution and adjustment to different body dimensions, and allowing ease of breathing and body comfort.

United States Patent 1191 T 1111 3,828,377

Fary, Sr. Aug. 13, 1974 ADJUSTABLE BODY REST 3,608,103 9/1971 Seid 5/327 B [76] Inventor: George D. Fary, Sr" R0. 258 3,608,964 9/1971 Earl 5/338 Falling Waters, W. Va. 25419 OTHER PUBLICATIONS [22 Filed; Sept 1 1973 A Comprehensive Guide to Purchasing (Hospital Professional Instruments-Equipment Catalogue) V. [211 APPL 396,130 Mueller & 00., 1956, pps. 941-942.

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 329,041, Feb. 2, Examme-Pa1R-G1lham 973, Assistant Examiner-Andrew M. Calvert Attorney, Agent, or FirmFidelman, Wolffe, Leitner 521 US. Cl. 5/327 B, 5/338, 128/76 R, & Hiney 297/392, 269/328 [51] Int. Cl A47c 21/00, A47c 7/32 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 5/327, 327 B, 70, 66, 337,

5/338; 269/322, 328; 128/76 R; 297/391 An ad ustable head and upper body rest 15 d1sclosed which is intended primarily for supporting the body 410 while lying face down. A head or face rest having an open portion for the nose and mouth is provided, to- [56] References cued gether with chest and shoulder supports, permitting UNlTED STATES PATENTS proper weight distribution and adjustment to different 245,639 8/1881 Lay 297/410 X body dimensions, and allowing ease of breathing and l,134,720 4/19l5 Bradley.... 297/393 X body comfort, 2,688,142 9/1954 Jensen 5/327 B 3,188,079 6/1965 Boetcker 297/391 10 Claims, 13 Drawmg Flglll'es PATENIED AUG 1 3x924 SHEET 2 BF 3 ADJUSTABLE BODY REST CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED INVENTIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 329,041, filed Feb. 2, 1973.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a support for the upper part of the body. More particularly it relates to a device which enables one to lie comfortably face-down wherein the head, chest and shoulders are cradled in a manner providing for a proper distribution of weight and which enables easy breathing.

Many individuals have difficulty in sleeping or resting comfortably in a face-down position. This may be required during surgery or in post operation recovery. This mode of repose is helpful to ladies who have had their hair coiffeured and who wish to preserve the results of their visit to the beauty parlor as long as possible. Likewise, sleeping face down would avoid any discomfort due to the presence of hair curlers. In addition, sunbathers will find this invention useful.

2. Description of Prior Art A number of devices have been patented which are stated to enable one to lie face down in comfort. While these devices do enable one to lie face down in a greater degree of comfort than they would have in their absence, they are either not adjustable to take care of differing body dimensions or the desires of the occupant, or are adjustable in a limited manner, or else do not fully support the chest, chin or shoulders.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention consists of a base support having mounted thereon a pair of spaced apart resilient shoulder supports which may be adjusted relative to each other. Fastened to the base and spaced longitudinally from the shoulder supports and equidistant therefrom is a resilient face support having an open notch portion adapted to receive the nose and mouth. The face support is adjustable for lateral and longitudinal movement, so the distance between it and the shoulder support may be varied. Also, the face support may be tilted about an axis parallel to the base and may be raised and lowered. Additional resilient supporting members for the chest and chin may be added. The chest support member is located midway between the shoulder supports, while the chin member is fastened to the face member and is in a generally parallel direction thereto.

Both the chin member and chest member may be adjusted to allow for different bodily dimensions or comfort requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the body rest.

FIG. 2 is a front view of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an expanded perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing the relationship of certain elements.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of another embodiment of the device, and shows an alternate form of the base in phantom lines.

FIG. 5 is a front view of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along line A-A of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a view showing details of the face support.

FIG. 8 shows the invention in use with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a portion in section of one end of a modified support for the face support of FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a modification of the device shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 in plan view.

FIG. 11 is a front elevation of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a cover for the modification of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is a front elevation in section of FIG. 12.

DESCRIFT ION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a body rest designated generally as l, which has a base 2 with a notched portion 3 at the rear portion. Base 2 is made of flat and relatively thin material having sufficient rigidity to serve as a support for the body support elements to be attached thereto. Suitable materials for this purpose may be aluminum or other sheet metal, plywood, composition board, various resin-fiber glass laminates, etc. Attached to base 2 at its rearwardyportion are shoulder rests 4,4. These are made from a resilient material such as foam rubber, polyurethane foam or padding, for example, and may be covered by cloth or plastic.

Alternatively, they may be made of inflatable bladders of suitable configuration which can be blown up prior to use. Such bladders may be inflated with air or hot or cold liquids to the desired firmness and temperature.

They are shown in the Figure as having a boot-like shape, but other shapes, such as rectangular, may be employed as well. Shoulder rests 4,4 are detachably and adjustably mounted on base 1 by means of fastener fabric tapes 5. Such tapes are well known to the art as Velcro tapes and are described in US. Pat. Nos. 2,717,437 and 3,009,235, for example. When a pair of such tapes are in face-to-face juxtaposition the interlocking naps act to join them together. By applying sufficient force, the tapes may be pulled apart.

A plurality of tapes 5 are attached, as by glueing, to the rear of base 2, and to the underside of shoulder rest 4. Accordingly, shoulder rest 4 may be placed in any desired position bounded by the overlying tapes, and will be firmly held there.

At the front end of base 2 is mounted a resilient face support 6, of the same material as shoulder support 4,

having a notched portion 7 at its inwardly facing portion, and depressions 6a, 6a spaced eye distance apart to serve as eye recesses. Face support 6 has fastened to its underside a rigid and relatively thin base 8, which may be of the same composition as base 2. Base 8, which is of the same general planar configuration as 6, has fastened thereto a rod 9 along its transverse axis. The ends of rod 9 are turned down to form pivots 10,10.

Said pivots are mounted on vertical supports 11,11, which in turn are mounted on base 2 as by screws (not shown). Vertical supports 11 have a series of spaced holes, 12 in a line normal to the base, into which the pivots fit. The height of face support 6 may be adjusted by selecting any desired set of holes 12, and inserting the pivots therein.

In operation, the user selects a spacing of the shoulder supports and a height of the face support which is most comfortable for him, and lies face down. The notch portion 7 receives his nose and mouth and his cheeks and forehead are supported by the rest of face support 6, while elements 4,4 support his shoulders. Due to the rotatability of 6 on its transverse axis, the angle of face support 6 .will be freely determined in use by the body geometry of the occupant.

FIGS. 4 through 7 depict another embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, mounted on a base 13, which is similar to base 2 in FIG. 1, are shoulder supports 14,14, chest support 15, face support 16 and chin support 17. Base 13 may be trapezoidal as shown in solid lines or rectangular as shown in phantom lines. Elements 14, 15, 16 and 17 are all formed out of a resilient material such as described in connection with elements 4 and 6 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

Shoulder supports 14 and chest support are shown as having generally square and rectangular outlines respectively, face support 16 is shown as having a slightly trapezoidal configuration, while chin support 17 has a generally elongated sausage shape in plan and ovoid in cross-section. It is readily apparent, however, that other shapes may be employed. As shown in FIG. 4, the rearward portion of support 16 is notched out at 16a to accomodate the nose and mouth of a person lying face down. Analogously, the midportion of 16 is concave along a longitudinal axis, as shown by 16b in FIG. 5 to conform more closely to the curvature of the forehead and cheeks. Eye recesses 16c, 160 are spaced eye distance apart and serve to accomodate the eyes.

Elements 14, 15 and 16 all have convex bottom portions which are firmly attached (as by glueing, for example) to a section of sheet material (reference numeral l8 and 18a in FIG. 5) conforming in curvature and of the same planar shape as the element it is joined to. Said sheet material acts to give support to elements 14, 15 and 16 and serves as means to attach them to adjustable supporting means. It may be of any suitable material known to the art, such as aluminum, galvanized iron sheet metal, plastic, composition board, molded plywood, etc.

Elements 14, 15 and 16 are all mounted on base 13 to permit vertical height adjustment, adjustment about a vertical axis, lateral adjustment for the shoulder supports, longitudinal adjustment for the chest support and both lateral and longitudinal adjustment for the face support. Since the mounting and adjusting structure is substantially the same for all supporting structures 14 15 and 16, only that for face support 16 will be described in detail.

Fastened to the bottom portion of element 18 along its transverse axis is a yoke element 19. The upper portion of the yoke conforms in shape to that of sheet 18. Yoke 19 has notched shoulder portions at each end thereof, forming recesses having vertical sides 20. Pivotably mounted on the vertical sides 20, at their upper ends, are vertical arms 21,21. At the bottom center portion of yoke 19 is a notch 22 to permit clearance of wing nut 23 on bolt 24.

F astened to the base 13 by means of bolt 24 and wing nut 23 is a channel shaped member 25 having a horizontal web portion 26 and upright flange member 27. Web 26 has in its transverse axis, at the middle portion thereof, a cruciform slot 28 (see FIG. 6) slightly wider than the diameter of bolt 24. It is thus apparent that channel 24 and associated structure may be moved transversely and longitudinally, and may be rotated about a vertical axis by means of bolt 24 and slot 28.

Vertical arm 21 is pivotably attached to side 20 by means of washer 21a and screw 21b. Flange 27 and vertical arm 21 have a number of threaded holes of the same diameter spaced along their vertical axis. Bolts 29 threaded through 27 and 21 thereby act to fasten yoke 19 and channel member 25 together. The height of face support 16 above base 13 may be varied as desired by selecting the proper holes for bolts 29.

Chest support 15 is longitudinally adjustable by means of a slot 28a extending transversely across the axis of its associated channel web member; shoulder members 14 are transversely adjustable by means of a longitudinal slot 28b extending along the axis of the channel web at the midportion thereof.

Chin support 17 is attached to face support 16 by means of arms 30,30 which are rigidly fastened to face member 16. Attached to both ends of 17 are elongated generally vertical plate members 31 (only one shown) having a plurality of threaded holes arranged along their vertical center line. Arm 30, having a number of spacing holes along its axis, is fastened to plate 31, and thus to chin support 17, by means of screw 32.A bolt 33, threadably mounted in the underside of chain support 17, acts as an adjustable stop. The relative position of the chin support 17 and the face member 16 may be altered by varying the mounting of the arms in plate 31, by means of the spacing holes.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative mode of vertical adjustment together with a somewhat modified body support member. Here, reference numerals 16, 18, 19 and 20 refer to like elements in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Face support member 16 here has downward turned edges which extend beyond the ends of yoke 19. This lessens the possibility of bodily contact with the supporting and adjusting hardware.

In this modification, the supporting web has mounted at its ends a tapped vertical post 34. Threaded into the post is a vertical stud bolt 35. On the top of the bolt, mounted for free rotational movement about a vertical axis, is a pivot support member 36. A pin 37 is force fitted in a horizontal hole in 36 and passes into an aligned hole in yoke 19, whereby yoke 19 and the elements mounted thereon can rotate about a horizontal axis. A lock nut 38 is provided to keep bolt in position. Thus, by rotation of bolt 35, face support 16 may be raised or lowered.

While downward turned edge 16 and the stud bolt adjusting means have been described in connection with the face support member, it is obvious that a like configuration and like adjusting means may be employed with the shoulder supports and chest supports.

FIGS. 10 through 13 show a modification wherein the base is rectangular and is adapted to be tightly covered when being transported or when stored. Elements 14, 15 and 16 are body supports as previously described. Base 13b is rectangular and the perimeter edges 13c extend a small distance beyond the body support elements. Mounted on the edges are portions of fastening tape, such as Velcro, 40b, 41b, 42b and 43b. As shown in FIG. 10, these tapes are mounted asymmetrically about the perimeter of base 13. In FIGS. 12

* and 13, reference numeral 39 relates to a rectangular cover of the same perimeter as 13b, which is deep enough to clear the body support members when placed on base 13b. n the upper open edges of 39a of cover 39 are fastened tapes'40a, 41a, 42a and 43a. The tapes on 13b and on cover 39 are so arranged that when cover 39 is rotated upwardly counterclockwise in FIG. 13, tapes 40a, 41a, 42a and 43a will contact and adhere to tapes 40b, 41b, 42b and 43b respectively. Since the tapes are mounted in like asymmetrical positions on the base and cover, only one location will be a mating one, thus facilitating the proper, positioning of the cover. The cover may be made of any suitable material such as plastic, plywood, etc.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to its use in a face-down lying position, it is obvious that it can be employed for repose in other body positions by suitable adjustments of the various elements and proper positioning of the body. Other methods for adjusting the various components, supporting elements can be employed, as is readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is: v

l. A rest for the head and shoulder portion of the human body comprising:

a. a base member,

b. a pair of laterally spaced apart resilient members (hereinafter denoted as shoulder members) mounted on said base member adapted to support the shoulders of a human body in face-down position on the said rest,

c. said shoulder members being adjustably fastened to the base member to vary the lateral distance between them,

d. a resilient face or head support member (hereinafter denoted as a face' member) mounted on the base member,

e. the face member having an inner portion facing the shoulder members,

f. the face member being spaced longitudinally and substantially about equidistant from each of the shoulder members, so that the head and shoulders of the human body in face-down position may be comfortably supported by said face and shoulder members,

g. the inner portion of the face member having a generally U shaped notch at the center portion thereof, adapted to receive the nose and mouth portion of a human face when in face-down position on the face member, 7

. h. means for 'adjustably raising and lowering the face member, and t i. means for permitting rotational motion of said face member about a transverse axis parallel to the base member.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the shoulder members are adjustable about a vertical axis.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the resilient chest support member (hereinafter denoted as chest member) is located generally midway along the transverse axis of the shoulder members.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the chest member is adjustable for longitudinal movement.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the face member has fastened thereto a resilient chin support member (hereinafter denoted as a chin member), spaced from the inner face of the face member and in generally parallel relationship thereto, whereby a persons chinmay rest thereon when lying face-down on the face member.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the chin member is adjustable relative to the face member.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the chin member has fastened thereto a vertically adjustable stop member adapted to contact the base member.

8. The device of claim 2, wherein the face member has fastened thereto a resilient chin support member spaced from the inner face of the face member and in generally parallel relationship thereto, whereby a persons chin may rest thereon when lying face-down on the face member.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the chin member is adjustable relative to the face member.

10. The device of claim 2, wherein the shoulder fastening tapes.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 82 8,377 Dated August" 13, 1974 lin fl George D. Fary, Sr.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On line 76 (cover page), the name "Fary" should be --Eary--.

In column 4, line 2, change "channel 24" to. -channel 25--.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of November 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

McCOY M. GIBSON JR. Attesting Officer C. MARSHALL DANN Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 F ORM PC9-1050 (10-69) v u.s. eovsmmzm PRINTING OFFICE I969 o-aes-au 

1. A rest for the head and shoulder portion of the human body comprising: a. a base member, b. a pair of laterally spaced apart resilient members (hereinafter denoted as shoulder members) mounted on said base member adapted to support the shoulders of a human body in face-down position on the said rest, c. said shoulder members being adjustably fastened to the base member to vary the lateral distance between them, d. a resilient face or head support membeR (hereinafter denoted as a face member) mounted on the base member, e. the face member having an inner portion facing the shoulder members, f. the face member being spaced longitudinally and substantially about equidistant from each of the shoulder members, so that the head and shoulders of the human body in face-down position may be comfortably supported by said face and shoulder members, g. the inner portion of the face member having a generally U shaped notch at the center portion thereof, adapted to receive the nose and mouth portion of a human face when in face-down position on the face member, h. means for adjustably raising and lowering the face member, and i. means for permitting rotational motion of said face member about a transverse axis parallel to the base member.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the shoulder members are adjustable about a vertical axis.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the resilient chest support member (hereinafter denoted as chest member) is located generally midway along the transverse axis of the shoulder members.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the chest member is adjustable for longitudinal movement.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein the face member has fastened thereto a resilient chin support member (hereinafter denoted as a chin member), spaced from the inner face of the face member and in generally parallel relationship thereto, whereby a person''s chin may rest thereon when lying face-down on the face member.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the chin member is adjustable relative to the face member.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the chin member has fastened thereto a vertically adjustable stop member adapted to contact the base member.
 8. The device of claim 2, wherein the face member has fastened thereto a resilient chin support member spaced from the inner face of the face member and in generally parallel relationship thereto, whereby a person''s chin may rest thereon when lying face-down on the face member.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein the chin member is adjustable relative to the face member.
 10. The device of claim 2, wherein the shoulder members are detachably fastened to the base by fabric fastening tapes. 